Rating – **** (4/5)
Ayan Mukerji took about a decade to make Brahmastra and Nag Ashwin has taken about four years to create Kalki 2898 AD – this isn’t a potshot at Mukerji per se, in fact, I quite liked Brahmastra; but this is just to draw a parallel on how fatuous it seems to think, see and soak it in that Nag Ashwin has created the world of Kalki 2898 AD from scratch to the final product in about four years.
Delivering a cinematic spectacle was a given right from the outset but the daunting task was to have a rooted story that you’re invested in and care for as opposed to just marvelling at the externals. Kalki 2898 AD does that and does that emphatically.
The World-Building & Technical Departments
I’ll get the biggest gripe I had out of the way first – I understood the reason to have a motion-captured younger version of Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama while showing the Mahabharata sequences but it seems that the otherwise spectacular VFX team switched off here. You just cannot get over how poor the seemingly AI generated Amitabh Bachchan face is; any filters or smaller apps would have probably done a better job.
And that’s the only major obstacle with the fantastical green-screen-to-final-product world that has been created. Almost every other frame, every sequence that involves heavy CGI work is impeccable and given that we have the worst record with VFX over the years, this is a milestone to cherish and celebrate. Also, one needs to get over the Dune, Mad Max, and Star Wars similarities because yes, the influence that Ashwin has is evident here but there is no attempt to ape or rip-off any of those aforementioned movies.
Creating three cities and mustering it into a 3-hour epic is a monumental task but Ashwin is especially particular and intricate with his screenplay and story progression. The infusion of futuristic dystopian world into rooted mythology is rarely done well but it is done to almost-perfection here. You cannot be bellyaching with Ashwin and his team for the world-building where you do end up being invested in it consistently.
The Star Power & The Ambition
I found it a moment of fun and jest when Amitabh Bachchan was making remarks about apologizing to all the Prabhas fans for beating the hell out of him on-screen, at one of the events held recently. But oh boy! He wasn’t kidding. You know that all the high-flying action isn’t Bachchan actually doing it but you are sold to the idea that Bachchan is The Immortal Ashwatthama – almost unbeatable, certainly unkillable, and an unstoppable force. He has banged Prabhas left, right and centre to believable effect.
Then comes Prabhas, and this is probably the most he has put an effort into since the Baahubali series. Being playful, emoting decently, lending some gravitas to his performance – something he hasn’t done in any of his recent films but does so here and to good effect. His towering screen presence is never questioned and that is at full display here as well.
Next is Deepika Padukone, who is mostly demure, scared and worried throughout the entire film but even with limited emotions to portray, she does well. She is literally the link that ties the entire story together and hence, pivotal to co-starring two stalwarts, Mr. Bachchan and Prabhas.
Without even doing much and literally just having two scenes in a three-hour film, Kamal Haasan proves why less is more. The mind-bending prosthetic appearance as a skinny man he has adopted for the first scene is just Haasan pushing his limits even at 69 years old!
There’s gonna be a huge amount of cynics out there who keep cribbing about ‘what didn’t work’ for them and that’s fine. Films are always subject to that and Kalki, in no way is a perfect film but to discard the sheer ambition and execution that Ashwin has propelled is a thing to bow down to. The cliched responses after watching Hollywood mega films and how ‘we don’t make films like this’ should be to put to rest because Kalki 2898 AD is a cinematic extravaganza made in India.
A Bunch of Cameos, Runtime & Weird Subplot
It is disheartening to see Disha Patani being reduced to yet another irrelevant role where the small segment with Prabhas doesn’t lend anything important to the film, and becomes a laughable subplot that didn’t need to be there.
The humor, while impactful early on becomes a weird choice to be infused in a lot of sequences for no rhyme or reason.
The runtime wouldn’t have been a bother in any way if the sequences aided the story but the first-half has some unwanted and stretched sequences that don’t really help the course of the story and just become distractions, even testing your patience. A chopping of about 15 to 20 minutes would have easily been possible and, in fact would have made the film even better than it is.
The unity of the South Film Industry is always at display and Kalki 2898 AD seemed like the assembling of some of the biggest ones. The film is brimming with cameos everywhere and that is fantastic because they arrive at good intervals and lift the spirits and interest up yet again.
I will only reveal three of them because it is already out in the news – Mrunal Thakur has a short but impactful role while Brahmanandam, with not quite a cameo but a full role does what he does best. However, the cameo of Vijay Deverakonda was a roaring one and will have everyone whistling and hooting. But there was one other cameo that is sure to get the people go bananas and all I can say, it is a special moment with Prabhas.
The Verdict and Continuation
Kalki 2898 AD doesn’t just push cinematic boundaries but breaks them and presents an extravaganza that transports you into a new world, engages you and has you marvelling at what Nag Ashwin and the entire team has managed to do.